As you know today is 10 years since a horrific tragedy occurred in New York City, one in which thousands of lives were snuffed out and led to many more tragedies and atrocities. As is the custom today we will see the emotional services as those who lost their lives in that event are remembered and rightly so.
But

As Caribbean people, we always need to be looking at things differently and asking — and answering — the questions others in the metropole are not. Of course, that’s a tall order; I always am amazed at the way in which many of us in spite of the knowledge of history, in spite of the colonial legacy, in spite of experiencing Cold War politics and then the ravages of the IMF, simply accept the narratives of others almost without any kind of critical analyses let alone the asking of some very important questions. For instance, look at how Patrick Manning implored people and the CARICOM ‘leaders’ to just “move on” from asking about the manner in which Jean Bertrand Aristide was removed from office by the West, specifically Washington, in flagrant violation of International Law. We are seeing it again right before we eye with the actions of the West in removing Muammar Qaddafi (who admittedly is no paragon of virtue by any standard, but that’s another issue) and it’s like we are blinded by the magic words “democracy,” “human rights” etc, uttered by powers who have abysmal track records in all of the above when it comes to their dealings with the peoples of the Americas including the Caribbean, Africa, SouthEast Asia, and Palestine.

So

As you look at the footage below, at the images that affected me profoundly and will always do so for the rest of my life, I hope you at least ask yourself the question I asked myself when I first saw it on the night of the destruction of the towers (notice up to now I have NOT used the word “attack,” the standard term used to describe it), what would make people react this way? What are the things we were/are not being told?

Oh and one one other thing, Sept 11 is the anniversary of a major atrocity that cost thousands of lives over the years following…hole up dey, not THAT one, I’m referring to the one on September 11 1973 when the democratically elected president of Chile Salvador Allende was overthrown and murdered in a coup. Now guess which champion of democracy orchestrated that one?

3 Responses to “Remembering September 11…Somewhat Differently”

It’s one of the more intriguing anomalies of my confuse country that continue’s to boggle my mind, and here it is. We remain concern for matters far and wide , such as this mammoth 10 year anniversary event.
In the interim, who will remember, and shed a tear for the lives of many that were lost on that fateful day ,in 1990 , when a religious & politically supported criminal, named Lennox Phillip , aka, Yasin Abu Bakr,almost destroyed our entire democracy.
Two decades later there is still no justice , as the not too subtle beneficiaries, continue to point fingers , while in, and out of power.
We remain silent , as country despising , self hating , cultural bandits of all ilk , do everything feasible, to destroy the image of our country, far and wide, while in and out of power, then run like neo imperial sheep ,to foreigners to save us.
Yeah , POS is the new Bagdad folks, and when it comes to crimes, is even worst ,than our Yardee neighbors ,Jamaica. Ever heard anything as preposterous diatribes?
Ok , the sham must be continued, as opposed to made for boosting the moral ,of real law enforcement officers, cleaning up the judiciary, of suspect legal luminaries,and essentially,developing a level playing field ,when it comes to concrete , socio- economic – com political justice.
Sad, but it’s the same trend folks.
A few privileged , elite cowards , turn political opportunists ,use their vast , and sometimes stolen resources , to finance their lavish criminally destructive operations,but with low end , illiterate folks from certain enclaves AS THE FRONT MEN , then turn around , and cry like constipated hyenas ,as to how terrible our country has become.
We wish our people well, as T&T , aka ,baby America, continue’s to follow the lead of more delusional global powers ,who will sleep with the devil,then remain surprise at the consequential ‘blowbacks.’

We also need to ask,some serious questions about the price of vengeance. We need to ask why we continue to manufacture uranium depleted bullets, which are so deadly. We need to ask why we manufacture land mines for planting in Africa and other places that do not manufacture weapons like guns, and nuclear warheads.(Only China and the US now make landmines). We need to ask why the wealthy countries of the world continue to deplete the mineral wealth of third world nations, expecially in Africa, and give nothing back but slag heaps and disease and the poisoning of the water.Sustained under-development, with the connivance of the governments of such countries. We need to ask why we as civilized nations continue to believe that one American life is worth a thousand other lives.
Without justice, there can be no peace.
Peace, justice and the integrity of creation is the watchword of the CAribbean Conference of Churches. As a former board member, I hold on to that, as a mantra.